Apparatus for recapping tires

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for recapping tires, particularly of the type used on off-the-road vehicles. Rubber strips are applied to the prepared tread surface of the tire to &#34;smooth&#34; the tire, after which the tire is disposed on a roller assembly to cut i.e., &#34;groove&#34; a tread design in the tire. The roller assembly is hydraulically displaced to dispose the tire in a pit and is rotated for indexing the tire to groove the circumference thereof. A grooving blade is heated to a controlled temperature and is hydraulically pulled across the tread surface to cut the tread grooves.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to apparatus for recapping tires and particularlyto apparatus for recapping large tires used on off-the-road vehicles orthe like. More particularly, this invention relates to apparatus andmethod of the type described which facilitates recapping of tires byminimizing the manual effort to accomplish same.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Recapping tires of the type described requires two separate and distinctoperations. One operation involves applying sufficient rubber to apreviously prepared tire carcass so that the tire may be retreaded. Thisis referred to in the art as "smoothing". The other operation involvescutting the tread design. This is known in the art as "grooving" or"sculpturing". For purposes of describing the present invention"smoothing" and "grooving" will be hereinafter referred to.

Smoothing and grooving of the tire carcass as heretofore defined isaccomplished in various ways. U.S. Pat. No. 3,808,076 issued on Apr. 30,1974 to John Harold Barwell discloses a method of applying treadmaterial to tires in which the tread material is extruded under pressuredirectly onto the periphery of the tire to bond the material to thetire. A tread pattern can be formed in the material as it is extruded.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,753,821 issued on Aug. 21, 1973 to Bradley E. Ragandescribes a method of retreading tires wherein a cured rubber tread isvulcanized to a tire carcass.

Applying rubber to a tire carcass and then cutting a tread design intothe rubber is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,714 issued on Oct. 14,1969 to Bradley E. Ragan. This patent describes rebuilding a lugged tiretread on a previously used tire carcass in which a plurality of adheredtogether convolutions of uncured rubber stock are built up about asmooth periphery surface of the tire carcass, and circumferentiallyspaced apart transversely extending portions are thereafter removed fromsome of the convolutions by a knife or the like so as to define a luggedtire tread.

Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,222 issued on Nov. 26, 1974 to DanielLejuene describes a tool for cutting grooves in a tire tread, whereinthe tool is heated and drive means of the type including a hydraulicjack is coupled to the tool for hauling the tool through the tread tocut the grooves.

The apparatus and methods described in the aforenoted patents, whileutimately accomplishing the purposes intended, do not do so in theefficient manner of the present invention whereby the manual effortrequired is minimized as will be seen from the description of theinvention to follow.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention contemplates apparatus and method for recappingtires, wherein the tire is prepared by buffing, skiving, filling treadcuts and cementing as is commonly known in the art. The tire is smoothedby applying rubber to the tire in strips substantially wider than thedesired tread design. A splice is made on each strip at a 45 degreeangle. The strip is then rolled on the tire tread surface and suitablycemented thereon. The strips are applied one at a time until the properthickness of rubber is attained. The rubber is then trimmed to conformto the tread design required. In accordance with the invention, the tireis grooved by using a roller assembly coupled to hydraulic means so asto be displaced longitudinally over a pit which receives the tiresupported on a pair of rollers of the roller assembly. A motor driventransmission is arranged to rotate the rollers whereby the tire issequentially indexed from one position to the next for grooving a treaddesign around the tire circumference. The grooving of the tire isaccomplished with a heated blade, the temperature of which is controlledby a thermocouple, coupled to a hydraulic system for being pulled apredetermined distance across the tread surface of the tire. The depthand width of the grooving blade is adjustable in accordance with thedesired depth and width of the groove forming the tire tread. After thetire has been grooved, it is cured in an open chamber as is well knownin the art.

The main object of this invention is to provide novel apparatus andmethod for recapping tires, and particularly for recapping large tiressuch as used on off-the-road vehicles.

Another object of the invention is to accomplish the above by smoothingthe tire, i.e. adding rubber to a previously prepared tire tread surfaceand by grooving the tire, i.e. cutting a tread design in the treadsurface.

Another object of this invention is to accomplish the grooving by usinghydraulically driven means to position the tire in a pit, motor drivenmeans for indexing the tire so that the grooving is accomplished aboutthe circumference thereof and hydraulically driven means for pulling aheated grooving blade a predetermined distance across the tire treadsurface to cut the grooves.

Another object of this invention is to control the depth, width andlength of the groove being cut.

Another object of this invention is to control the temperature of thegrooving blade in accordance with the particular characteristics of thetire being processed.

Another object of this invention is to provide apparatus and method asdescribed which is more efficient and requires minimal manual effort ascompared to the prior art.

The aforegoing objects and advantages of the invention will appear morefully hereinafter from a consideration of the detailed description whichfollows taken together with the accompanying drawings wherein a singleembodiment of the invention is illustrated by way of example. It is tobe expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for illustrationpurposes only and are not to be construed as defining the limits of theinvention, reference being had to the appended claims for that purpose.

FIG. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the steps in practicing the methodof the invention.

FIG. 2 is an isometric representation of apparatus in accordance withthe invention.

FIG. 3 is a side view of apparatus in accordance with the invention, andshowing a tire mounted on said apparatus and disposed in a pit, and agrooving head positioned for grooving the tire.

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic representation illustrating the rollers of theapparatus shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 for supporting a tire in accordancewith the invention, whereby rotation of the rollers effects rotation ofthe tire to index the tire from one position to the next.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic representation of an adjustable grooving headin accordance with the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to the drawings, the method of the invention will be describedgenerally with reference to the flow chart of FIG. 1 and then theapparatus involved will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4 and5.

It is to be first noted that the method and apparatus to be hereindescribed finds its greatest utility in connection with recapping oflarge tires for off-the-road vehicles such as used in road constructionequipment, strip mining or the like. However, the invention may be usedequally as well for recapping all tires as will be understood from thedescription to follow.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 1, the method of the presentinvention includes certain steps culminating in a retreaded tire whichis then cured in an open chamber. The steps may be broadly characterizedas preparing the tire, smoothing the tire and grooving the tire.

The tire is prepared by buffing, skiving (removing foreign material)filling tread cuts and cementing, the same being well known in the tirerecapping art. After the tire has been so prepared the smoothing andgrooving process takes place.

The tire is smoothed using rubber which has been previously prepared ina conventional manner and carried on a roller or the like, and removedtherefrom in strips of approximately 3/4 of an inch thickness andapproximately three to four inches wider than the tread design of theparticular tire. The strips are removed from the roller one at a timeand applied to the circumference of the tire tread surface. A splice ismade on the strip at a 45 degree angle, whereby the opposite ends of thestrip are joined. The strip is rolled down and cemented on the tiretread surface and then trimmed to conform to the tread design required.It is to be emphasized that the strips are applied one at a time untilthe proper thickness of rubber is attained for the ensuing groovingprocess.

The tire is grooved by first placing the tire on a roller assembly aswill be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The tire, soplaced on the roller assembly, has its lower portion disposed in a pit.The roller assembly is hydraulically operated to span the pit forpurposes which will hereinafter become evident.

The tire is next indexed so as to be positioned for cutting a firstgroove in the tread surface. The indexing is accomplished through amotor driven transmission which controls the clockwise orcounterclockwise rotation of the tire as may be desired and as will behereinafter explained with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. A groovinghead is positioned on the indexed tire. The grooving head, specificallydescribed with reference to FIG. 5, includes a blade for cutting thedesired groove. The blade is adjustable to accommodate the groove widthand depth desired and is heated to a controlled temperature.

With the blade appropriately adjusted and heated and positioned on theindexed tire, the grooving head is pulled across the tire tread surfacea predetermined distance by hydraulic means for cutting the groove.After the groove has been cut, the tire is indexed to the nextsequential grooving position and the grooving process as aforenoted isrepeated.

After the circumference of the tire has been grooved the grooving headis removed from the tread surface, the roller assembly is displaced awayfrom the pit and the tire is removed therefrom. The tire is then curedin an open chamber as is well known in the art.

The grooving operation and the apparatus therefor is specificallydescribed with reference to FIGS. 2-5, wherein corresponding elementscarry corresponding numerical designations. With reference first toFIGS. 2 and 3, a transformer 2 is connected by suitable conductors 4 toa grooving head designated generally by the numeral 6, and which will bedescribed in further detail with reference to FIG. 5. Transformer 2receives a relatively low current input and transforms same to a highcurrent output for heating a blade portion 7 of the grooving head aswill be hereinafter described. The transformer is of the type which mayhave a fan 2A for providing a cooling effect as best shown in FIG. 3.

A hydraulic cylinder 8 operator-operated by a hand valve 9 has a ram orarm 8A coupled to grooving head 6 and is arranged to pull the groovinghead across a prepared, smoothed tread surface 11 of a tire 13 apredetermined distance determined by adjusting the travel of ram 8A tocut a groove 15 of a desired length. An arm 10 is mounted on hydrauliccylinder 8 so as to be longitudinally displaceable therealong, and whicharm 10 carries a plate 14 for exerting a force against a side wall 21 oftire 13 as will be further explained. Hydraulic cylinder 8 is powered bya motor-pump assembly 16 including a suitable liquid reservoir. Themotor-pump assembly is connected to the hydraulic cylinder by suitablehydraulic lines 17.

A platform 18 is arranged near a pit 19 (FIG. 3) which receives tire 13.Platform 18 includes a roller assembly 21 having a pair of parallelrollers 20 and 22, and which roller assembly 21 is displaced fromplatform 18 by hydraulic means 24 operator-operated by a hand valve 26(FIG. 3) for forward and reverse displacement over the pit as shown byarrows (a) and (b), respectively. The aforenoted grooving apparatus iscarried on a frame 27 suitably supported on platform 18.

Rollers 20 and 22 are suitably journalled in assembly 21 at 23 and arerotated in either clockwise or counterclockwise directions by anelectric motor and gear box assembly 28 coupled thereto andoperator-operated by a suitable switch (not shown). The clockwise orcounterclockwise rotation of rollers 20 and 22 has the effect ofpositioning or indexing the tire for cutting and spacing grooves 15 asrequired.

In this connection reference is made to FIG. 4 wherein tire 13 is showndisposed over rollers 20 and 22, with the beads 32 of the tire incontact with the rollers. The tire is suspended on the rollers in pit 19with the weight of the tire on the rollers so that rotation of therollers in either direction as shown by arrows (c) and (d) has theeffect of rotating or indexing the tire as aforenoted. Motor and gearbox assembly 28 include suitable gear reduction means so that the actualrotation of the rollers and the ensuing indexing of the tire from oneposition to the next is at a relatively slow speed as is desired and aswill be understood by those skilled in the art.

With specific reference to FIG. 3, transformer 2 may include aconventional thermocouple (not shown) for regulating the temperature ofgrooving blade 7. In this connection it is noted that for appropriategrooving action it is desirable to hold the temperature of the cuttingblade at a substantially constant value depending on the tirecharacteristics.

Tire 13 is disposed on roller assembly 21 so as to rest on rollers 20and 22 as shown in FIG. 4. The roller assembly, initially disposedpartially across pit 19, is actuated in a forward direction (a) byhydraulic means 24 through hand valve 26 so as to span pit 19 whichreceives the tire. Grooving head 6, which is supported by hydrauliccylinder 8 so as to be displaced thereby, is positioned on a point ontire tread surface 11 at which a groove is to be cut. In this connectionit is to be noted that tire 13 may be disposed on roller assembly 21with a hoist or the like when the size of the tire so dictates.

With grooving head 6 so positioned on tire tread surface 11 and blade 7thereof heated through transformer 2 to a controlled temperature asaforenoted, hand valve 9 is operated to actuate hydraulic cylinder 8,whereby grooving head 6 is pulled across tread surface 11 of the tire apredetermined distance to cut a groove 15. Plate 14 creates an opposingpressure or force against side wall 21 of tire 13 as the blade is beingpulled across the tread surface to maintain said tire in a stabilizedposition as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

When a groove 15 has been cut, tire 13 is indexed to another groovingposition through motor and gear box 9 which rotates rollers 20 and 22 asheretofore noted. In this connection it will be understood that atemplate may be used to mark the position of the grooves around thecircumference of the tire and the tire is indexed from one markedposition to another to cut the grooves in the appropriate position.

When the entire circumference of the tire has been grooved as desired,roller assembly 21 is displaced by hydraulic means 24 in direction (b)so as to be again disposed partially across pit 19, and tire 13 isremoved therefrom by a hoist as may be required for subsequent curing ina chamber or autoclave as is well known in the art.

With specific reference now to FIG. 5, the effective length and width ofblade 7 and hence the depth and width of a groove 15 is adjustable by aspacer and bolt assembly designated generally by the numeral 44 andincluding bolts 45 and spacers 47 whereby the blade is displaced awayfrom or toward a base 46 of grooving head 6 for groove depth adjustmentand the blade legs 7A are displaced away from or toward each other forwidth adjustment. Grooving head 6 carries electrodes 48 connected totransformer 2 for heating blade 7 and a sensor 50 is suitably connectedto the aforenoted thermocouple. A handle 52 is provided for positioninggrooving head 6 as is required. It is to be noted that blade 7 isreplaceable for providing grooves of various shapes and sizes as may bedesired.

Base plate 14, best shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, is pivotally arranged on arm10 so as to be angularly disposed relative to side wall 21 of tire 13,whereby a groove 15 may be cut at an angle instead of straight acrosssurface 13 of the tire as shown in the drawings, the same beingaccomplished by exerting an opposing angular force or pressure againstthe tire face when the groove is being cut. In this connection it willbe noted that a conventional protractor type device (not shown) may bearranged with plate 14 to adjust the angle thereof as may be desired.

It will now be understood from the aforegoing description of the methodand apparatus of the invention that the tire is first prepared andsmoothed and then grooved as noted. The grooving is performed beforecuring the tire. With the apparatus described, and for purposes ofillustration, a groove 14 inches long can be cut in the tire in 14seconds with one pass of grooving head 6.

It will now be seen that novel apparatus and method for smoothing andgrooving tires has been described. Tire 13 is placed on platform 18which is hydraulically operated for disposing the tire over a pit, afterwhich grooving head 6 is placed on the smoothed tread surface of thetire and hydraulically operated for cutting a groove. The tire issupported on rollers which are rotatable for indexing the tire, wherebythe grooves are cut around the circumference of the tire. That is tosay, after each groove is cut the tire is indexed for the next groove tobe cut. After the tire has been completely grooved it is removed fromthe platform and cured.

The apparatus and method of the invention requires minimum manual effortfor accomplishing its purposes, and thus represents a distinctimprovement over apparatus and methods of the prior art.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed in detail it is to be expressly understood that the inventionis not limited thereto. Various changes may also be made in the designand arrangement of the parts and the steps of the method withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as the same willnow be understood by those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. Apparatus for applying grooves to a prepared andsmoothed tire tread surface, comprising:a platform arranged near a pit;means for supporting the tire including means carried by the platformand longitudinally displaceable relative thereto, and initially disposedpartially across the pit, and rotatable means carried by thelongitudinally displaceable means and displaceable therewith; meanscoupled to the longitudinally displaceable means and operator-operatedfor displacing said means to span the pit; the rotatable means having apair of rollers with portions of the tire beads in contact with therollers for suspending the tires in the pit and the weight of the tirecarried by the rollers for rendering the tire rotatable therewith; meanscoupled to the rotatable means and operator-operated for rotating saidmeans to index the tire suspended in the pit to a predeterminedposition; a displaceable grooving head; means supported by the platformfor carrying the displaceable grooving head; the displaceable groovinghead including a grooving blade disposed at the predetermined positionon tire tread surface; means for heating the grooving blade; and meanscoupled to the displaceable grooving head and operator-operated fordisplacing the head across the tire tread surface with the heated bladeapplying a groove therein.
 2. Apparatus as described by claim 1, whereinthe means coupled to the longitudinally displaceable means andoperator-operated for displacing said means to span the pit includes:apower source for providing power to displace the longitudinallydisplaceable means to span the pit.
 3. Apparatus as described by claim2, wherein:the power source includes hydraulic means.
 4. Apparatus asdescribed by claim 1, wherein the means coupled to the rotatable meansand operator-operated for rotating said means to index the tiresuspended in the pit to a predetermined position includes:a power sourcefor providing power to rotate the rotatable means and to index the tirein clockwise and counterclockwise directions.
 5. Apparatus as describedby claim 4, wherein the power source includes:motor means having speedreducing means associated therewith for rotating the rotatable means andfor indexing the tire at a relatively slow speed.
 6. Apparatus asdescribed by claim 1, wherein:the grooving blade included in thedisplaceable grooving head is adjustable within said head for varyingthe depth and the width of the groove cut when the head is displacedacross the tire tread surface.
 7. Apparatus as described by claim 1,wherein the means for heating the grooving blade includes:transformermeans for receiving a relatively low electrical current input and forproviding a relatively high electrical current output; electrode meanscarried by the grooving head and arranged with the grooving blade, andresponsive to the relatively high transformer current output forgenerating heat to increase the temperature of the grooving blade; andthermocouple means for controlling the transformer output current andthe grooving blade temperature.
 8. Apparatus as described by claim 1,wherein the means coupled to the displaceable grooving head andoperator-operated for displacing the head across the tire tread surfacewith the heated blade applying a groove therein includes:a power sourcefor providing power for displacing the head across the tire treadsurface.
 9. Apparatus as described by claim 8, wherein:the power sourceincludes hydraulic means including a cylinder and a ram; the groovinghead is coupled to the ram and displaceable therewith; and thedisplacement of the ram is adjustable to adjust the displacement of thegrooving head and the length of the groove cut by the grooving blade.10. Apparatus as described by claim 9, including:an arm supported by thecylinder and longitudinally displaceable therealong: a plate carried bythe arm; and the arm displaced along the cylinder so that the plate isadjacent a side wall of the tire to provide a force against the sidewall in opposition to the force created by the grooving head beingdisplaced across the tire tread surface for maintaining the tire in astabilized position whereby the grooving blade cuts a groove straightacross said surface.
 11. Apparatus as described by claim 10, wherein:theplate is carried by the arm so as to be angularly displaceable relativeto the tire side wall to provide an angular force against the side wallin opposition to the force created by the grooving head being displacedacross the tire tread surface for maintaining the tire in a stabilizedangular position whereby the grooving blade cuts a groove across thetire tread surface at the angle that the plate is displaced.